14. Travel hack: Special Meals

So to get to Liberia or elsewhere in West Africa you're guaranteed to enjoy at least one, if not two or three very long flights.  Often these flights start or end very late or are over night, and if you're anything like me, sleep is a premium.  The worst are 6.5ish hour flights across time zones that means you're actually only going to get a few hours of mediocre sleep on the plane.

So today's Liberia Life Hack: Order a special meal.

Go online and request it at least two days before your flight.  It doesn't matter which special meal you select; most major airlines offer a plethora of options including vegetarian and vegan, low salt, diabetes, halal, kosher, etc.

I usually order the vegan option.

You get your meal first, before everyone else. It's hot.  And you can finish it and fall asleep often before the person next to you has even gotten their food! When sleep is a premium, that thirty minutes is gold.

You tend to get 'healthier' options as well; instead of the highly processed cake for a snack, that always has a disappointing bland taste and greasy feel, you might get a banana and an apple, or a really tasty hummus and aubergine sandwich.

Bon voyage and sweet dreams!

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